Shipment data holder



. July 15, 1958 4A.-`J`.\H |=Kn\|s 2;s43,31o

' SHIPMENT DATA HOLDER Filed Jan. l0, 1956 United States PatentOiiice SHIPMENT DATA HOLDER Alfred J. Hopkins, River Forest, Ill., assignor to Gaw- OHara Envelope Co., Chicago, Iil., a corporation of Illinois Application January 10, 1956, Serial No. 558,277

2 Claims. (Cl. 229-72) This invention relates to holders for shipping data such as invoices, receipts and the like, the holder being of the class which is designed for attachment to a package, envelope or other container in which the merchandise to which the data pertains is shipped.

Holders of this general character providing a pocket for the invoice or other data record are secured by a suitable adhesive commonly referred to as gum to the face of the package or container, but to insure against accidental detachment of the holder from the package it has heretofore been proposed to provide the holder with wings of single thickness projecting outwardly beyond the coniines of the pocket, these wings being gummed and secured by the adhesive to the package. Such single thickness wings are much less likely to be loosened from the package than a holder having peripheral edges of double or triple thickness.

Heretofore it has been customary to provide such an attaching wing as an extension of the front wall at each end of the holder which consisted of a single sheet of paper or other suitable fibrous material folded along one edge so that the front and rear walls were integrally connected along the fold line. The free long edge of the front wall was also provided with an extension wing so that the holder had three wings, one at each end and one at the upper edge of the holder. After the invoice or other data bearing sheet had been inserted into the pocket, the holder could then be attached to the package by the adhesive carried by all three of the attaching wings. Such a holder was suitable for use only when the pocket could be lled before the holder was attached to the package. It is desirable, however, in some instances to attach the holder to the package or container before the invoice is inserted. One of the purposes of my present invention is to meet this requirement by providing a holder which can be partially attached to the face of a package, envelope or other commodity container before the invoice is inserted and still leave the entrance opening into the pocket unobstructed for the insertion of the data bearing sheet.

Another object of my invention is to provide a holder having an attaching wing projecting from each of the four edges of the holder, thus providing for most effective attachment of the holder so as to insure against accidental displacement of the holder from the package.

Another purpose of my invention is to provide a holder in which the entrance opening into the pocket may be located either along one of the longer edges of the pocket or along either end, depending upon whether the user prefers to insert the data bearing sheet sidewise or endwise into the pocket.

Other objects of my invention, including the provision of access tabs to facilitate access to the holder contents, and other advantageous features of the holder, will be apparent as the same becomes better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing,

lamented July 15, s

Figure 1 is a face view of my improved holder when partially attached to a package, envelope or similar shipping container;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the holder shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary face view of a modied form of holder;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the rear face of the holder before the closing wing has been folded back;

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of the rear wall of the holder; and

Fig. 8 is a rear View of the holder with the rear wall rolled back to expose the data bearing sheet located in the pocket.

Referring now to the drawing more in detail, reference character 11 indicates a fragment of a package or envelope in which the commodity or object to be shipped is packed. My improved holder is designed to be applied to and securely attached to one face of such package, as indicated in Fig. l.

While some of the features of my invention may be embodied in a holder in which the front and rear walls consist of a single sheet of material folded along one edge of the pocket, in which instance only three attaching wings are possible, in the preferred form of my invention, which provides four attaching wings, the front and rear walls consist of separate pieces of material secured together along the margin of the rear wall so as to provide a pocket between the walls. On the drawing, the rear wall of the holder is designated by reference character 12. This wall, as shown, is substantially rectangular in shape, except that a portion of its upper edge is cut away, as indicated by reference character 13, providing at each of the upper corners an access tab 14 projecting outside the contines of the front wall 15 so that a small opening into the pocket is left at each of the upper corners for the insertion of a pencil, letter opener, or other implement by which the holder may be ripped open for the purpose of removing its contents. This rear wall is gummed along two or more of its margins, as indicated by reference character 16, and is to be attached to the front wall. If the entrance to the pocket is to be at the upper edge of the holder, the gum may be applied to three margins of the back wall as exemplied in Fig. 7.

The front wall l5 consists of a sheet of suitable material, such as heavy paper, of substantially rectangular shape and of such size that a pocket area is provided substantially equal in size to the back wall and from this area projects along each edge an attaching wing. These wings are respectively designated by reference characters 17, 18, 19 and 21. The rear faces of each of these wings is gummed as shown in the drawing so that when laid llat upon the package or other container and the gum is moistened, the wings provide four single thickness means of attachment which will prevent the pocket from being readily detached from the package. The fourth wing is made possible by the fact that the rear wall is a separated piece of material, instead of being a folded up portion of the sheet which forms the front wall of the holder. As has heretofore been customary, it will be observed that the spaces on the rear face of the front wall between the wing 17 and the wings 18 and 21 over which the access tabs 14 are disposed are not provided with gum, thereby leaving ungummed apertures at the corners of the holder for access purposes by a suitable instrument.

A holder constructed in the manner thus far described is suitable for the reception of an invoice 22 or the like which may be inserted into the pocket through the entrance opening extending along the upper edge of the holder, viewing Figs. 1 and 3. After the invoice has been introduced into the pocket, the holder may be attached to the package by applying the gummed wings which have been moistened to the face of the package. In

- instances, however, where the shipper desires to apply the holders to the packages prior to the introduction of the invoices into the holders, a novel feature enabling the holder to be attached to the package before the invoice is inserted is incorporated in the structure. The novelty in such instance resides in providing a score line 23 along the base of the upper wing 17 and folding that wing forv wardly onto the face of the holder, so that the entrance opening along the upper edge of the holder is unobstructed. The holder may be applied to the face of the package by means of the three gummed wings 18, 19 and 21, leaving the wing 17 unattached, and the packages or envelopes with the attached holders may then be stacked or otherwise stored until time of shipment. At such time the flap 17 may be folded outwardly as illustrated in Fig. l to expose the pocket entrance through which the invoice may then be inserted into the pocket,

after which the gummed face of the wing 17 may be moistened and pressed down against the face of the package to close and seal the holder, as exemplified in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, said wing also serving its function of attaching the holder to the package.

Instead of providing the entrance opening into the pocket along the upper edge of the holder, as illustrated in Figs. l and 2, such opening may be provided at one end, if preferred, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. Referring to these figures, it will be observed that the ap 21-1 at one end of the holder is scored at ZZ-a and folded back on the face of the holder, leaving an entrance opening to the pocket at the end thereof which is unobstructed for the reception of the invoice 22 or other data bearing sheet. The holder with the folded-back end wing may be applied to the package in the same manner as previously explained in connection with Fig. 1 f and when the package is ready for shipment the invoice can be inserted lengthwise into the pocket, whereupon, the wing ZI-a is moistened and laid against the face of the package, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. so that it forms a closure for the pocket and constitutes an attaching means for securing the pocket to the package. The front and rear walls may be gummed together along any selected three margins, leaving the entrance opening to the pocket along the ungummed edge. Usually this entrance will be provided at the upper edge, as illustrated in Fig. 1 or at one end as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The advantages of the described novel features of my invention should be apparent from the foregoing. The scope of my invention is delined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A shipment data holder for attachment to a shipping container, consisting of a rear wall composed of a substantially rectangular sheet of paper or similar fibrous material and provided at each corner of its upper margin with an extension to provide an access tab, a structurally independent front wall of similar material attached to said rear wall along all but its upper margin and leaving said upper margin unattached to provide an entrance opening for the introduction of a data bearing record into the pocket between said walls, said front wall being extended beyond the contines of said rear wall to provide beyond each edge of the rear wall an attaching wing, the rear face of each of said wings beinggummed for attachment to a container and one of said wings being folded outwardly along the entrance opening of said pocket and below the upper edge of said rear wall and its tabs to permit unobstructed access to the pocket, said wing being arranged to overlie and close said pocket entrance when the gummed rear surface thereof is applied to the container and when so applied a portion of each of said access tabs remains exposed to provide an access opening thereat.

2. A shipment data holder for attachment to a shipping container, comprising a rear wall consisting of a substantially rectangular sheet of paper or similar material provided at two corners with extensions to form access tabs, a structurally independent front wall overlying the area of said rear wall except for said tabs which project outside the perimeter of said front wall,

means for securing said rear wall to the front wall so as to provide a pocket having an entrance opening along one edge and between said access tabs, said front wall being provided along each margin with a wing projecting outwardly beyond the edges of the rear wall, said wings being gummed on their rear faces for attachment to a container and one of said wings adjacent to said pocket opening being scored on its outer face and folded back to permit ready access to the pocket but being adapted to be folded in the opposite direction into contact with the container to close the pocket and attach the holder to the container and when said scored wing is attached said access tabs remain exposed to provide access openings thereat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,181,098 Lambert Apr. 25, 1916 1,257,111 Phillips Feb. 19, 1918 2,099,007 Elmore Nov. 16, 1937 2,598,755 Birch June 3, 1952 2,671,678 Walsh Mar. 9, 1954 

